The Eerie Silence - UFOs and astronomers

The search for extraterrestrial life was back in the news again this week. Learned astronomers told the Royal Society that evidence of life elsewhere in the universe is likely to be found during the 21st century – but the idea that aliens were already here flying around in UFOs was laughed out of court.

That was the signal put out to the media by the world’s leading space scientists who gathered in London for a two day conference to mark the 50^th anniversary of the Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI). Lord Martin Rees, president of the Royal Society and Astronomer Royal, said the chances of discovering life during this century were better than ever. With powerful space telescopes such as that carried by NASA’s Kepler spacecraft, now orbiting the sun, the chances of discovering Earth-like planets orbiting stars in other solar systems have increased. “Were we to find life, even the simplest life, elsewhere that would clearly be one of the great discoveries of the 21^st century,” Rees told the BBC. "I suspect there could be life and intelligence out there in forms that we can't conceive."

For decades the optimistic predictions of SETI scientists like Frank Drake and Paul Davies, who both spoke at the conference, have encouraged the rest of us to accept that intelligent civilisations must exist elsewhere in the vast universe. But the days when governments feared mass panic if such claims were confirmed appear to be a thing of the past. Bookies Ladbrokes slashed the odds on ET life being found by the end of the decade from 5000-1 to 1000-1 after Lord Rees made his comments, which suggests we no longer fear aliens but are desperate to meet them.

But the disconnect between the carefully considered views of astronomers and those of the UFO industry – which believes aliens are already here and the facts are being concealed from the public – are still a universe apart. Lord Rees summarily dismissed UFOs by saying: “I’m utterly unconvinced.” His views were shared by others who covered the proceedings including Michael Hanlon, science writer from the Daily Mail who wrote: “Despite all the X-Files claims and conspiracy theories, there has not been a credible account of a flying saucer visitation by extra-terrestrials to Earth.”

Professor Paul Davies, whose new book The Eerie Silence: Are we alone in the universe? is published in March, is better placed than any of his contemporaries to appreciate the “will to believe” in UFOs. Back in his student days Davies was a member of BUFORA and a believer in UFOs and intelligent alien life. In 1968 he sent a letter to an academic journal to protest about an article by the eminent physicist R.V.Jones that debunked flying saucers. Drawing upon the same arguments relied upon by present-day UFO proponents such as Stan Friedman, the young Davies urged Jones to re-examine the hard evidence for UFO visitations that included ground traces and images captured on film and radar.

But speaking forty years later on BBC Radio 4, Paul Davies’s views have radically changed. Unlike the 1960s, when few scientists entertained the idea of alien life he said “it is now fashionable to think the universe is teeming with life.” Although he believes it is likely life does exist in other solar systems, the bottom line is that despite the ET hype of the past five decades “the observational evidence for life beyond earth, never mind intelligent life, is totally lacking.”

Asked if he believed aliens had already visited us, his reply – based upon 40 years of reflection since his student days – could not be clearer. He does not take UFO stories seriously and has not seen any convincing evidence of alien visitation during human history. Of course the conspiracy nuts will account for this by dismissing Davies as just another pawn in the international cover-up.

But the four decade transition of Davies from young UFO buff to a cautious and open-minded scientist is a lesson many others dazzled by the UFO "evidence" can and should learn from.

On Sunday, 7 February, the Observer published a detailed examination of what SETI has achieved fifty years since Frank Drake first pointed the Green Bank radio telescope towards Tau Ceti.

The article, by Robin McKie, quoted astronomer Seth Shotak who said he was confident a signal from an intelligent extraterrestrial civilisation would be found by 2025:

"Then we will ask other observatories to check it out, and if they back us we will simply announce the existence of a message from ET. There will be no message to the President and no interference from Men In Black."